Surely you’ve all heard of the concept of love languages? Many years ago we did a study on the five love languages- how people show their love, and how they best see someone else’s love for them. Some people show their love by giving gifts, some show love through an act of service. Some prefer a physical act, like a hug or hand-hold, some people show their love through words- and through receiving them. And then some people show their love through the idea of quality time. When we did this study, it was of no surprise to anyone that Andy and I both ranked an act of service numero uno.
Well, with all due respect to Gary Chapman, who penned the book we read, I don’t think he quite covered all of the possible love languages. While my love language may technically BE an act of service, it isn’t always, sometimes it can walk the line between an act of service, quality time AND gift giving. Of course, this love language that I speak of is the act of cooking. Preparing food IS my love language. Every day when I prepare meals for my family, I do so because of the deep love I have for them. Because I desire them to eat wholesome, nutritious and delicious food that will help ensure their health in the long run. Yet, it’s so much more than that, because when I cook to feed someone else, it’s as if something magical comes over me. I pour every once of love I have for someone into the dish I’m preparing. There really is a seasoning that is added when I am cooking for others versus just for myself.
I love that. A pot of chili on a cool fall day is truly something special to be enjoyed, but I’ll tell you, that pot of chili takes on another layer of deliciousness when I am cooking it for a guest at our dinner table. We had family visiting a few weeks ago from out of town- I can’t tell you how excited I was at the prospect of out of town guests. Do you know what that means to me?! People need to eat! I know how expensive travel can be, and how eating out meal after meal can get old really, really fast. To be able to spend a few days cooking up delicious meals and honoring our guests with the best our larder has to offer? Oh my, that is priceless. It makes me wistful that our time was all too short- I could have cooked for another week! I get giddy just thinking about doing it again soon.
But you know, I think the majority of people I know truly don’t understand how deep this love language goes for me. For far too many people, cooking is a chore- something to be endured to put food on the table. Not so for me. Every second that I spend chopping, dicing, stewing, roasting, baking, etc, is a moment of pure pleasure for me- especially as I think on the person or persons we will be sharing with. Do you know, I even enjoy the cleaning up afterwards? I think it’s because I know our guests are filled with delicious food, and now they can sit and relax and enjoy one another’s company while I fulfill my secondary love language- the act of service.
It’s my love language whether I am cooking for you in my home, or giving you a jar of homemade salsa or jam. It’s my love language when I give you that loaf of blueberry bread, pecan pie, or package of delicious cookies to take home and share with your family. It’s my love language when my new teenager comes to me with a request to bake a few items for her youth group’s upcoming bake sale. I was all over that, despite that week being one of our busiest of the year. If my beautiful daughter wants me to bake something, I’m going to bake something. And because it was for the youth group, teenagers and young adults whom I love, no plain old cookies were going to do. The love was coming out in full force, and we were going to prepare something truly special.
Abigail took her time and checked out a boatload of cookie and brownie cookbooks from the library. She has fallen in love with the extensive cookbook selection at our library, and always is bringing home stacks to pore through. She reminds me of myself when I was a teenager and excited about the prospect of cooking delicious recipes. ( Except that by the time I was her age I was a very angry teenager, and my recipe hunting was to compile a cookbook for the second I could move out of my parents home and be on my own. Sigh. I am so blessed to have a thirteen year old daughter who still loves her family and still wants my input in every aspect of her life.) Anyway, she was really impressed by one book in particular, Crazy About Cookies by Krystina Castella.
We decided to make two cookies from this book- the first being a Toffee Chip Cookie. This book went so far as to suggest you make a homemade batch of toffee first to put in this cookie! Alas, time was against us, so Abigail decided it would be okay if we bought some Bits O’ Brickle and use that instead. What a thoughtful assistant! Those cookies turned out really, really good, and made me excited to try the second cookie she chose…
White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cookies seemed a little daunting to me at first glance, but as I read through the recipe, it really was pretty straightforward, with the exception that in the end, you sandwich two cookies together with a smear of white chocolate frosting. We used 4 ounce Ghirardelli White Chocolate bars for the chocolate we melted, and then instead of coarsely chopped white chocolate chunks, we simply used Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chips. When it came time to fold the chips into the frosting, I did give them a rough chop with my knife, as I thought it would make spreading the frosting easier.
Oh. My. Gosh. LOVE! These cookies are spectacular! The macadamia nuts and the white chocolate come through, and they really are not as overpowering sweet as you would think either. I used my large 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to make larger cookies, and I was so glad I did. We got about 20 large sandwich cookies out of one batch- obviously, you’d get more cookies if you made them smaller.
What I especially loved about these cookies (and the toffee chip ones) was that they came out exactly as they looked in the cookbook- that hardly ever happens. It so impressed me that I headed directly onto Amazon and bought my own copy of this book to keep- there are 300 cookie recipes in this book, and we’re really looking forward to trying more of them. There’s such a variety! There are cookies that use whole grain ingredients, vegan cookies, gluten-free cookies, and the everyday bad for you white flour/ white sugar cookies. I can’t wait to try the next one. Maybe it will be an act of love that prompts us to bake up something special for someone special?
You must try these cookies. They are definitely good enough for a holiday cookie platter, should you be on the prowl for this type of thing. They completely sold out at the bake sale and were a huge hit! They also are a great everyday cookie, and have become an instant favorite.
White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cookies
White Chocolate Cookie Dough: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 14 tablespoons butter, softened 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 3 large eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature 3/4 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate 1 cup macadamia nuts White Chocolate Cream: 4 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar 1/4 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons butter, softened 1/4 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate.Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter 2 cookie sheets (or line with Reynolds non-stick foil).
Make the white chocolate cookie dough: Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.
Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until blended. Stir in the melted white chocolate and chopped white chocolate, then the nuts; finally, add the flour mixture.
Drop 1 1/2 tablespoon mounds of dough on the cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
Make the white chocolate cream: Combine the melted white chocolate and the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl, stir until blended. Stir in the milk, vanilla and salt.
Beat in the butter until smooth, and then fold in the white chocolate chunks. Refrigerate the cream for 15 to 20 minutes to thicken up a bit. Spread the white chocolate cream between two cookies.